Etymograph

English

rim

Rim comes from Old English rima ‘rim, edge, border, bank, coast’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *rimô.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*rimô1reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*rimō2reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150rima1‘rim, edge, border, bank, coast’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rim1
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1953rim1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English rim
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Old English rima
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1953, Editor & Publisher 1953-09-26: Vol 86 Is: “COPY READER — Journeyman, experienced makeup, now slot man…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*rimôWiktionary, English rimreconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*rimōWiktionary, Old English rimareconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150rimaWiktionary, English rim‘rim, edge, border, bank, coast’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rimWiktionary, English rim
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1953rimWiktionary, English rim. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1953, Editor & Publisher 1953-09-26: Vol 86 Is: “COPY READER — Journeyman, experienced makeup, now slot man…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *rem-

rand

through Middle English rim

rhyme, rime

Another origin of rim

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*reumō‘strap, belt’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150rēoma‘membrane, ligament’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rim
  4. Englishtodayrim

Today it means

noun An edge around something, especially when circular.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “rim”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Old English rima. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *rimô / rim

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